Events Detail

You are cordially invited to a lunch discussion with

MOHAMED CHARFI
FORMER TUNISIAN MINISTER OF EDUCATION

on the topic of his latest book

ISLAM AND LIBERTY:
THE HISTORICAL MISUNDERSTANDING

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2005
12:00 P.M.

To RSVP, send an email to rsvp@hudson.org or call 202-974-2400.

In his important new book Islam and Liberty: The Historical Misunderstanding, the prominent Tunisian scholar Dr. Mohamed Charfi examines the reasons why so many Arab and Muslim societies have struggled, often violently, to adapt to modern and democratic life. Dr. Charfi emphasizes the need for a fresh approach to Islamic history and to the interpretation of Islamic religious law, and stresses the importance of educational reform in building democratic and prosperous futures for Muslim societies.

Mohamed Charfi is one of the most prominent Muslim scholars in North Africa and the French-speaking world today. For many years, he was a professor in the Law Faculty in Tunis, where he is now Professor Emeritus. During the course of his distinguished academic career, he published a number of books in French and Arabic on legal and other themes. A student leader in the General Union of Tunisian Students in Paris in the 1960s, Professor Charfi helped to found in Tunisia the progressive and democratic group called "Perspectives." In 1968, the state security court sentenced him to prison for two years. Twenty years later, he became the first Vice President and then President of the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights (1981-89). In 1989, Professor Charfi became Tunisia's Minister of Education and introduced over a period of five years wide-ranging educational reforms that he believed were long overdue in Muslim countries. In 1994, Professor Charfi resigned from government in protest against the excessive violence with which Tunisian security forces were putting down opposition to these reforms.